![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/cute-little-girl-sleeping-with-smile-hugging-her-christmas-gift-HD-image-1024x576.jpg\")
It came without ribbons\nIt came without tags
\nIt came without packages, boxes or bags<\/p>\n
It came without ribbons
\nIt came without tags
\nIt came without packages, boxes or bags<\/p>\n
Welcome Christmas while we stand
\nheart to heart
\nAnd hand in hand
\nChristmas Day will always be
\nJust as long as we have we\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n
And in the end, matters of twos and threes and fours settle out, and my favourite day of the year takes it\u2019s place as one of the kindest \u2013 although perhaps one of the most unusual \u2013 Christmases I\u2019ve had so far. As the day winds to a sleepy close, as dessert plates are cleared and gift wrap carefully folded and set aside for \u2013 perhaps \u2013 use next year. As the crisp cold air outside turns dark and the stars light Santa\u2019s way home for another holiday\u2026I am reminded once again of what\u2019s really important.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an old clich\u00e9 that says that Christmas is not about what\u2019s under the tree, it\u2019s about who\u2019s around it. I am reminded this year of exactly how true that is. It\u2019s never been about what we get, it\u2019s about what we give. Perhaps that\u2019s why I like Christmas so much\u2026it reminds me that there is hope in the world. There is still a capacity for human beings to be kind, to reach out to one another with an outstretched hand of understanding rather than a clenched fist of defiance. There is still the possibility that things will<\/i> work out. Christmas isn\u2019t about the things you can feel, or touch or even see\u2026Christmas is about\u2026the intangibles.<\/p>\n
My favourite memories of this Christmas? Have nothing to do with what I did or did not unwrap. My favourite memories of this Christmas are the feeling of Amras\u2019 hand in mind when we walked through the chill afternoon air along the golf course and picked up an errant golf ball as a gift for the family cat. The look on my mother\u2019s face when I brought her up a piece of garlic sausage on a cracker (\u201cChristmas!!!\u201d), the warmth of a fireplace on my face and the giggling about the highly predictable nature of Hallmark Christmas movies (\u201cooooh but is he wearing plaid!?\u201d). The smell of the tree lot in the rain as we picked out our very first Christmas tree. My mum asking me for my sugar cookie recipe (I still say that\u2019s proof that I have succeeded as an adult). Tracking Santa across the United States. Watching my father welcome another member into a very small and serious tradition that means such a very great deal to all of us.<\/p>\n
Christmas isn\u2019t about what you get. Christmas is about what you give. And in learning that you will receive more than you ever thought possible.<\/p>\n
Some transitions are hard. Some are easy. Some are just awkward. But there is a breathtaking beauty waiting for you if you are patient and accepting of the change\u2026<\/p>\n
I know that a great many of you are away from your loved ones tonight. I\u2019ve been there, I know how that feels. So I just want to take this moment to remind you: Christmas is something you carry with you. So is family. So are a great many things that are really really important and all too easy to forget. Those things can\u2019t be packaged, or bought, but they also can\u2019t be lost. At least not so much so that they can\u2019t be found again.<\/p>\n
So wherever you are, whoever you\u2019re with. I wish you, and yours the most magical of yuletides.<\/p>\n
And on that note, I whisper some words to the close and holy darkness\u2026and I sleep.<\/p>\n
Goodnight neverland.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It came without ribbons It came without tags It came without packages, boxes or bags Welcome Christmas while we stand heart to heart And hand in hand Christmas Day will always be Just as long as we have we\u2026 And … Continue reading